Music Box
by Quarried Times
Summary: Make the music go away... Oneshot, AkuRoku, AU, Rated T for scary imagery and mild yaoi.


Author's Note: This is pretty weird, I'll have to admit. But hey, this is what comes to my mind at 4 in the morning. Not sure if I'll be keeping it as a one-shot or not. I'm sure it could have a huge story to go along with it but I dunno if I want to keep writing it, it kind of scares me.

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A soft melody from a music box plays. He can't hear it though, so it's almost like it's not there at all. All he _can_ hear are the screams. Those damn screams that fill his ears to the brim with sadness and pain. It hurts so he tries to drown them out by clapping his hands over both ears and closing his eyes as tight as he possibly can. This doesn't work, but causes the screams to grow even louder it seems. Someone's moaning, someone's singing, someone's crying, someone's yelling. The bed he lay on is but a raft in a sea of hysteria. The air surrounding him smells like the rotting remains of the undead, fleshy and putrid, causing him to gag inwardly every time he breaths in. Along with the horrible stench, faces stare at him, some angry, some confused, some just blank. He hates these faces horribly because whenever one would look him in the eye, the stare would send a jolt of lighting through his body, causing his eyes to bleed and his body to collapse back onto the bed in pain. Tornadoes drift by, aimlessly creating whirlpools here and there only to disappear and then reappear in a different spot, occasionally being a different color. Sometimes they were red, sometimes blue and purple and pink, spotted or stripped. But they always looked the same and they all had that similar grin that showed their bright yellow teeth.

Here, nothing makes sense. But everything does.

It's so dark, so, so _dark_. But probably just because it's nighttime. Or is it daytime? He wouldn't know – he'd been swimming in this vast sea of death for as long as he could remember.

He wished for someone – anyone to save him. He hoped that at least one person out there cared enough to rescue him from this torment. But then again…_did_ anyone care for him…? He thought long and hard about this for a few seconds, or minutes, or maybe days. After weeks and months and years of thinking and wondering he finally came to the conclusion that there really was no one out there to love or care for him. No one missed him. No one thought about him when they needed company. No one wished for his face to see when they woke up in the morning.

No one worried about him.

No one bothered to think of him.

No one _cared_.

The realization hit him hard, causing large, juicy tears to roll down his face. He'd never cried before, but it actually felt good. So he continued. He cried until the sea he floated in overflowed. He cried until the faces glared and stuck their long, slimy tongues out at him. He cried until the screams and moans faded away into the background so he could finally hear the quiet, evil tune playing. He cried until the sun came up over the horizon and a flash of red shone in his eyes. He squinted at this light that hurt his retinas and seemed to set his skin aflame. He began clawing at his flesh, hoping to rid himself of the pain that erupted there but to no avail came his actions. He burned and burned and screamed and burned and cried. When he finally collapsed again onto his bed he wasn't breathing but instead he was singing:

_Softly, oh softly I cry out your name_

_Wishing only that you would do the same_

_Slowly, so slowly I drift away from you_

_Why can't you see that I need you too?_

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_

Roxas gasped as his eyes shot open, his lungs burning and clenching for air. Something was on top of him, restricting him from taking another breath. He needed the air. Horribly. But he could hardly move. It was like he was paralyzed. He opened his mouth to speak, to tell the weight to remove itself from his chest, but his voice had long forgotten how to work. He attempted to move his arms but those were immobile as well.

He flinched when next to him a music box began to play. The tune was soothing to the ear, but to Roxas' it was the wickedest thing he had ever heard. "Turn it off," he mouthed, no words coming out, only slight gasps for breath. It hurt his ears, causing them to bleed from the inside out. His chest was on fire and his head was filled with water.

He was going to die.

Or so he thought until his prayers were finally answered and the weight on his body shifted, allowing Roxas to fill his lungs to the brim with much needed oxygen. Oh how good it felt to have that in his system again, now if only the music box would quiet itself…

"Roxas…"

Roxas didn't know if it was the music box saying his name or if it was just his imagination playing tricks on him. He wouldn't put it past his mind, it's not like he was sane or anything.

"Roxas."

The voice sounded relived almost, happy to be saying the simple name. Roxas was glad at least that someone found the slightest joy when it came to him, even if it was the evil music box saying it.

More horrid chimes and tunes rang through his head before he heard his name once more. It was a shame he couldn't talk back to the voice, or_ see_ for that matter. Everything was so dark as if someone had blindfolded him. He spent a few moments guessing just who the voice belonged to while the music box sang in his ears, or more like screamed. He tried to count off the people he knew in his head, hardly remembering anyone at all. His parents he recalled, though something had happened to them, either they died or left Roxas awhile ago. Still, he remembered their faces and how they looked. He could see a few friends in his mind, one with bright red hair, almost like blood and the other with white blonde hair the color of snow. Other ones he could remember but they were smaller than the former two. He saw a brunette and one with shiny, silver hair. There were some way behind those two, but they were too hard to decipher, even if he squinted he couldn't make out their hair or eye color.

Names were the problem, though. He couldn't seem to find any identities to fit these so called friends of his. Maybe they weren't really his friends. Perhaps they were something that his mind just kind of…_made up_ to keep him company. That would make more sense, actually.

Once last scan through his brain confirmed the fact that those friends of his were just make-believe. Roxas didn't have anyone to care for him, remember?

_------------------------_

"Roses are red, violets are blue. Wake up my darling; I have something to give you."

Roxas was tempted to ask what it was he would receive if he woke, but decided against it. He slowly opened his eyes, light attacking his vision. It seemed to eat away at his pupils and sear through them to singe his brain. His hand instinctively came up to his pounding cranium and he held it steady so his brains wouldn't leak out. He almost screamed when the faint sound of a music box seeped into his ears.

Couldn't it just leave him alone?

His eyes slowly focused after what seemed like forever, though the pounding didn't dissipate, no, it only grew when he saw this bright_ red_. Damn, the red hurt his eyes even more than the former light had. If his brain could be fried then it probably already was. Though Roxas was tough and he wouldn't back down so easily. He opened and closed his eyes over and over again, seeing black the red, black, red, black, red, until both seemed to mesh against each other, creating some kind of bloody black abyss. It was disgusting to look at but at least it didn't singe his eyes.

Finally, Roxas refocused his blurry eyes and they showed him that there was someone there, sitting in front of him, leaning in closer and closer. The person was the source of the searing red and just maybe the cause of the deadly music. He couldn't tell exactly and before he could even manage a simple hello or a complaint, the man's lips forced themselves onto Roxas', meshing flesh with soft flesh. Roxas couldn't help but feel as if a weight had been lifted from his chest, but still feel like something was totally wrong. The lips on his moved almost exactly to the music, soft and graceful yet evil and lustful all at once. Roxas felt the need to pull his attacker closer but then wanted to throw him into a wall.

It was so hard to choose so Roxas just kept still and tried to focus on anything else but the music drifting through his ears. His brain melted when the redhead's tongue shifted out of his lips and past Roxas' in less than a second. It wasn't long before Roxas felt the muscle attach to his own, moving and gliding in swift movements as if they had practiced this dance many a time before. Roxas wanted the evil invading tongue out of his mouth, he wanted this man to disappear for forever, but then…he _didn't_. He loved how the older man pressed up against him and how the heat practically emanated from their mouths all the way through his body. He craved more but wanted so much less.

When the man finally pulled back Roxas got to look fully at the attacker. His hair was red along with his cheeks which seemed to be flushed from the kiss. His eyes were jade, sparkling like a real gem. Roxas didn't remember the tattoos that graced the man's face though. Had he just recently obtained them? Nevertheless, one name pounded itself into his mind, carving the letters with nails and knives so that he would never forget them again. And that name was **Axel**.

"Axel…" Roxas breathed the name and it sounded sweet, oh so sweet on his lips and tongue. He said it again and again while he reached up and held the beautiful panting face in his sweating palms. His thumbs ran across the upside down tear drops then back down to the pink, moist lips then up again to draw invisible lines over pale eyelids.

"Axel…Axel is soft…like I remember," Roxas said slowly, his voice still a bit raspy but at least he could hear himself over the melody playing in the background.

Axel smiled down at him then grasped one of his hands around Roxas' smaller ones. "I missed you." His voice was like butterflies and liquid sun, almost completely overpowering the music.

Roxas nodded and clutched Axel's face harder in his hold but Axel didn't even wince. "Don't...don't leave me again…" he pleaded, feeling on the verge of tears but he wouldn't let them fall, not while the music tormented him still.

"I never have, Roxas. I'm always here, waiting for you to wake up," Axel said truthfully as he gave Roxas' hand a gentle squeeze.

Roxas relaxed a bit at this, loosening his grip on the poor redhead. His heart raced in his chest when the air around them went silent. He could hear the melody all too well and it hurt, it hurt so badly why wouldn't it just stop? "The music…" Roxas let his hands fall away from Axel's face and back down to his own pounding skull. "Make…the music go away, please…" he begged.

Axel's eyes became concerned and curious at the same time then they grew grave at the last second. "Roxas you have to calm down, alright? You have to focus on something else."

Roxas shook his head and closed his eyes, not really hearing what Axel had to say because the music just seemed to get louder and louder…

"Roxas…Roxas!" Axel gripped one of Roxas' wrists in his hand. "Focus, dammit!"

Roxas growled at how tightly Axel was clasping him but he couldn't protest any more than that, the music seemed to be eating his brain away like little insects, feasting on a fresh corpse.

Suddenly, there were lips on his again and everything was…_okay_. The music was gone and was replaced by a plethora of smells and sounds. The first thing he noticed was the scent of cinnamon and vanilla. Those two were the strongest but others ghosted around his sense as well, like tobacco and melted chocolate. There was no music now; only the sounds of lips locking together could be heard. Soft sucking sounds and small moans, one's saliva being entangled with the other's. Roxas _finally_ felt so good. So perfect. So right. This was how it should be. There was never supposed be any music – ever.

Axel's skilled hands quickly guided themselves over Roxas' small body, moving anywhere and everywhere. Roxas shivered in pure delight and smiled into their kiss, loving the warmth and blissfulness of it all. Feeling this, Axel stopped abruptly and pulled back causing Roxas' smile to quickly disappear.

"You…smiled," Axel stated astonished, green orbs wide.

Roxas huffed and grabbed the collar of Axel's shirt, bringing him back down for another bruising kiss. It was then that Roxas realized that Axel was his cure – his medicine so to speak. Would it be too cliché to call him a drug? Whatever it was, Roxas needed him. Roxas couldn't live without him because without Axel, Roxas was but a lost soul, left to drown in the evil and malevolent tunes of the music box.

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Author's Note: Yea I told you it was weird. The whole thing was inspiried by the song "A New Beginning" By Good Charlotte, if you want to go listen to that. It's a nice peice of work that used to scare me but doesn't anymore. :] Review, ya?


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